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The democratic bill needed a super majority but fell short and died in the senate.
WFMY News 2

WASHINGTON, DC-- Political gridlock prevented a veterans benefits bill from passing in the senate.

Most of us would agree, we can never repay our veterans for their sacrifice to our country. But on Thursday, politics got in the way of passing a bill that would have benefited our veterans.

The Democratic bill needed a super majority but fell short and died in the Senate. Republicans thought the $21 billion bill was too much money and didn't agree on the source of the funding.

Plus, this being an election year for many senators, political agendas could be getting in the way.

Jason Husser, an assistant political science professor at Elon University said, "Here we see agreement. Both parties are saying we need to help our veterans and support our troops but things are so bad in Washington, we're not even able to come to an agreement on something they should easily be on board with."

The bill would improve access to healthcare services and expand educational and job training programs for veterans. It also hopes to reduce the giant claims backlog in the department of veteran's affairs.

Husser believes that some variation of the bill will eventually pass but the election year and partisan gridlock will complicate the process.

"By blocking democrats from passing this legislation, Democrats lose bragging rights. This means when the Republicans come up with an alternative, Democrats have some incentive to say well you didn't like ours, we're not going to give you the benefits," said Husser.